Bundling Payments to Keep Costs Down

Effective January 1, 2013

A national pilot program will begin in 2013 to encourage hospitals, doctors, and other providers to work together to improve the coordination and quality of patient care. Under payment "bundling," hospitals, doctors, and providers are paid a flat rate for an episode of care rather than by the service or test. For example, instead of a surgical procedure generating multiple claims from multiple providers, the entire team is compensated with a "bundled" payment that provides incentives to deliver healthcare services more efficiently while maintaining or improving quality of care. It aligns the incentives of those delivering care and savings are shared between providers and the Medicare program.

Learning Links & Tools Read the main law (906 pages in PDF format, 2.17 MB) Read amendments to the law (55 pages in PDF format)

Source: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, §3023.